Weight Management

Eating a balanced, nutritious diet and being physically active is the best way to stay healthy and help reduce your risk of disease. To maintain a stable weight, your energy (kilojoule) intake needs to equal the energy you use. If you use more energy than you consume, you will lose weight. On the other hand, if you eat more than you use, you will gain weight.

The sensible answer to losing excess body fat is to make small healthy changes to your eating and exercise habits. These changes should be things that you can maintain as part of your lifestyle – that way you will lose weight and keep it off. A healthier approach to food

You can lose body fat by making a few easy changes to your eating habits. It will help you lose body fat if you:

Avoid yoyo diets.

Eat a wide variety of food from all food groups. Check that you eat from the following food groups every day – wholegrain bread and cereals, vegetables, fruit, milk and dairy, and meat, fish or legumes and where possible, choose low-fat varieties.

Increase your fruit and vegetable intake, particularly vegetables, as most are low in calories and contain fibre, which helps you feel full.

Reduce your intake of foods that are high in added fat, sugar and salt. Make soft drinks, lollies and snack foods an occasional ‘extra’. Most adults should eat no more than one or two ‘treats’ a day. If you are overweight or inactive, you may need to limit treats to less than one a day.

Try to balance an ‘extra’ food with extra exercise. The more energy you burn, the more treats you can afford to have. Remember, you should only add extra foods after you have covered your nutrient needs with choices from the healthier food groups.

Cut down on saturated fats and alcohol.

Replace sugary drinks with water.

Avoid using food for comfort, such as when you are upset, angry or stressed. Explore other healthy ways to cope with these feelings.

The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating includes information about how much and what types of food you need to eat to maintain a healthy weight.

Type of help available

Apart from your doctor, nutritionist and dietitians are great help in supporting your weight loss goals. TVP has qualified nutrition advice which can support your journey.

We can develop weekly diet plans to work in with your direct goals. The plans will include: